Through the Mirror
by TheScorekeeper
Summary: She had one job: protect the younger students. It all goes according to plan until this seventh year Hufflepuff is jinxed through a mirror and out of her world. She has to figure out a way back home to Hogwarts, or accept that she may never find her way home. If she can't find her way back, this Hufflepuff will have to find a new place to call home. Hufflepuffs are natural finders
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One  
The Battle of Hogwarts

I was running through the school halls, calling out to the younger students as I went.

"First to third years! First to Third years are to follow me!"

It was the early hours of the second of May.

As a seventh-year prefect I had been tasked with getting the younger students to a safe haven. Luckily for my professors; though they had not given me a specific location to hide them from the battle, I had a place in mind. I had found it in my own second year, and had used it many times over the years to avoid both teachers and students alike. As far as I was aware it was a tiny corner of the vast castle that was almost never visited.

The cat patronus of Deputy Headmistress McGonagall had ordered me an hour ago warning of the imminent attack. My head of house, Professor Sprout sent a message with her own incorporeal patronus telling me to find all the first to third year students and take them to the safest place I could find. Last year, Hannah Abbott's mother was murdered and she had been taken out of the school. Professor Sprout put my name forward at that point to join Ernie Macmillian as prefect for our sixth and seventh years. I had looked for Ernie, but upon not finding him, I sent my own patronus, a fennec fox of all things, to find him and give him a rendezvous point near the kitchen. I also sent one to Neville, most of the DA was hiding in the Room of Requirement with him, my affiliation had luckily never been discovered; and thus, I was able to continue my lessons. My patronus to him was a quick warning that the final battle was upon us and that I was going to be protecting the younger students.

I stopped all the students that were with me as we ran into Ernie and a few other first years.

"I got your patronus," he said.

"What," I started a bit out of breath from all the running and shouting, "is the name of my familiar and what is my familiar?" I finished asking.

"Your familiar is a large black German Shepherd named Anubis," he responded, then followed up with his own question, "What is my patronus?"

"A boar," I said smiling and breathing deeply, "You need to think of a tougher question, but at least it's not as bad as the last time. 'What is my house?' while wearing the school uniform."

"To be fair," Ernie chuckled, "I wasn't expecting you to quiz me that morning."

"As Professor Moody used to say, 'Constant Vigilance'," I laughed.

It was then I turned to look at the tired and scared looking students around us. I pulled out my wand and turned to them all.

"All right everybody listen up! I can only afford to give you these instructions once! In a moment I am going to cast a non-verbal direction spell. Ernie, you will follow the purple arrow to the safe zone. Students, you will follow Ernie. I will be bringing up the end of this train warding and trying to start the school's defense mechanisms as we go. Jog, don't block each other and don't worry I won't let anyone fall behind, but keep in mind that this is not a drill!"

With that speech out of the way, I cast the direction spell and nodded to Ernie. He started off at a jog, I waited for the students to all pass me, looking for the life of them all worried and scared. As I started running a couple feet behind, I started warding the hall behind us with the hopes that it would slow down anyone following us. As we turned corners I warded the intersections. I also quickly pointed my wand at the lot of the students and cast Cave inimicum, which I had learned in my sixth year, to hopefully keep enemies away. I had no idea if it would work over such a large group of people that were also moving, but anything that could help.

Digging into my bag I pulled out my potions knife I cast scourgify on the knife even though it looked clean and quickly steeled myself. I took a deep breath before drawing the knife quickly across my palm. The blood welled out of the shallow cut quickly. I turned to the nearest wall and pressed the bleeding wound to it. The school started making a haunting noise, Ernie turned to look at me quickly I waved him forward with my hand and continued jogging. I knew it was stupid to try healing my bleeding hand with the mending charm, but I didn't see another option so I quickly cast repairo. Either I was exceedingly lucky, or the cut wasn't as bad as I thought because it quickly stitched itself back together.

It was at that point that I saw him. I shouted to Ernie to take the next corner, he quickly deviated from the course and ran for it with the students trailing after him. I stared forward and warded the corner after the last student went past and stopped looking down the hall at our Headmaster. I had thought he had run off after his duel with professor McGonagall, apparently, I was wrong.

Without waiting for him to pull his own wand on me, I pointed mine at him and yelled, "FLIPENDO!"

When that did nothing to the wizard, I cast a non-verbal Fumos.

The smokescreen spell did nothing either.

"Protego totalum," I said raising my wand and praying that something would work.

He finally spoke then, "Are you taking the first to third year students to a safe place?"

I looked into his dark eyes confused by the question and the lack of hexing me into the next lifetime.

Looking away I said, "That all depends Sir, on who is asking. The Headmaster? Or the Death Eater?"

It was below the belt and I knew it. Though many students had indeed been tortured this year, and he did kill Headmaster Dumbledor the year previous, Professor Snape had never himself hurt any of the students he was supposed to be protecting. In fact, if I was correct in most of my guesses Ginny and Neville at the very least owed this man their lives. Hell, most of the students probably owed him their lives for at the very least keeping everyone alive this year. Tortured by our Muggle Studies and Dark Arts teachers yes, but Professor Snape to my knowledge only ever assigned normal detentions.

"You forget, Miss Brisker," he started folding his hands behind his back, "As Headmaster of this school I am in control of the wards. The school itself is in an uproar, no thanks to your stunt with the blood, now answer my question."

He had the sound of a desperate, but impatient man behind his command. Realizing that I would have to either beat him in a duel, which was a highly unlikely if not impossible feat for me, or answer him. In life there are many paths one can take. All the different choices and roads, everything leading me to this moment. As a Hufflepuff, I was a particularly good finder, I never really considered myself overly kind, but in that moment. Just for a second, I could hear in his voice something Professor Snape never wanted anyone to find. I swallowed my fear, and faced the inner Gryffindor house my father wished I had been sorted into, and answered.

"I've been tasked with their protection, so I'm leading them to my personal hiding place."

He looked like he was thinking for a moment before he said, "Don't forget to use the room-sealing spell once you've shut the door. You can also cast a repelling charm with a shield spell to ward the door from most if not all the ward breaking spells the Death Eaters know. Nothing short of a large explosion should break a ward like that. Lastly stop leaving this trail of wards behind you."

I blinked at my headmaster more than a little stunned, "Th-thank you Sir."

With that, he nodded, turned the other way and left me to scramble after Ernie and the students.

* * *

Let me know what you think. College is really difficult and this brain child has been bothering me for a month.

-TheScoreKeeper


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two  
The Mirror to Another Place

A half hour later, we were rushing to get all the students through the door to my hideaway. We could hear various shouts, explosions and sounds of pain from all around us by that point. The shield covering the school had dissipated ages ago letting the Dark Army onto the grounds. I could only hope that our professors and other older students were doing well defending themselves, and our school. A large suit of armour had joined us along the way, he would be both the guardian of the door and the marker for the teachers should we succeed in this battle.

In case I was completely wrong, I gave Ernie instructions to keep the children safe. In the far corner of the large room, there was a secreted tunnel out of the school. When I first found this room, it had been caved in, but perseverance and stubbornness in this last year, I had made it a goal to safely tunnel it back to where it went. It was almost done and, honestly, it was probably safer for now that I had not finished it. Ernie and I working together would be more than capable of opening it up.

That was when the trouble started. A loud girlish cackle was heard not far away. I looked to Ernie, we had to make a decision. The students were in the room. A random hex blew out a nearby statue. Whoever was coming was coming soon. I shoved Ernie into the room and slammed the door shut.

"Protego Maxima. Fianto Duri. Repello Inimicum. Colloportus," I cast, followed by the room-sealing spell.

I then gestured to the suit of armour to guard the door and bolted down the hallway. A stinging hex flew past my head. I stumbled out of the way, turning to see who was shooting at me: Bellatrix Lestrange. At the very least the younger students would be safe if I could distract this psycho long enough. I cast a shield charm and started running. Luckily for me, she took the bait, unluckily for me, she took the bait.

I kept running further away from the safe zone dodging and countering the jinxes and hexes Bellatrix threw my way.

"Stop running dearie so I can kill you," she sing-songed at me.

I chose not to retort and instead ran into a room I hadn't seen before in the last seven years at Hogwarts. I shut the door behind me and cast the locking charm. I knew it wouldn't hold for long, so I looked around to see if there was anything I could use to help me.

At the other side of the room, there was a large mirror. I walked towards it curiously, nothing ever happens at Hogwarts without some kind of planning. Maybe it was something Dumbledor had cooking before Professor Snape killed him, then again maybe it was just a normal Muggle mirror. The thing certainly didn't look enchanted. We would sadly, probably never be privy to the answers to my questions.

It was then that Bellatrix blew the door in. I had my back against the strange mirror hoping that she wouldn't suddenly decide to cut me to ribbons with shards of glass. Bellatrix smiled darkly at me, I heard a sound from behind her and I prayed it was reinforcements that could deal with the crazy witch. I knew that my shield charm would only last so long. And the moment she cast an Unforgivable, nothing would stop that short of dodging it. She starred at me smiling, I stared back holding my shield up giving my energy to it.

I dodged to the right as she shot a curse my way. It hit the mirror behind me and was absorbed by it. The two of us were momentarily stunned that the mirror hadn't exploded. I recovered first and sent a non-verbal stunner at her. My stunner was deflected towards the left wall. Clearly, I was under prepared here. Against a dark witch with years of experience above me, my paltry seven years of education may as well have been my first week.

A second spell shot from Bellatrix's wand. I dodged to the right and once more, the mirror behind me absorbed the shot. I rapid fired anything I could think of at her, from the jelly-legs jinx to a spell to turn her into a newt. She deflected everything I was able to throw at her.

A strange wet sensation started moving down my back, I glanced down to see that the mirror behind me was in motion. I jumped forward, towards Bellatrix and ducked the curse she threw at me. It hit the mirror, which started to bubble behind me. Whatever hexes and curses she was throwing at the thing was either damaging it, or making it angry. With Bellatrix standing in the doorway, there wasn't anywhere I could run off to. Eventually, she would hit me with something, but not if I could get a lucky shot on her first. The chances of me doing that were slim to none though, everything else thus far had been deflected from her. I had been aiming at her core though.

Taking a chance I cast a stunner at her feet. It like all the rest was deflected. That seemed to anger her more than she should have been. She glared at me and started her own rapid fire volley. I dodged to the sides and deflecting what I couldn't dodge. The shield spell and the other spells I had already cast to protect the younger students and Ernie were draining on my magical core. It would not be long for me to simply run out of the needed energy to keep the spells up, and when that happened, the younger students would pay the price for my choices and mistakes. If she killed me, the children would still be at risk because the spells protecting them would die with me. I was in a lose-lose situation, and I had no one to blame but myself. It was then I realized just how unfair everything was.

The two of us kept firing at each other, Bellatrix was able to get a cutting curse to hit me. It wasn't a deep wound luckily, her curse had cut up my wand arm, it wasn't deep but it was bleeding freely. I switched my wand to my non-dominant hand so it wouldn't slip out of my grasp. The mirror behind me was still bubbling and the glass was moving in and out of its frame. Was it as senescent as the castle? If so I hoped it could tell I was a student and would help to protect me.

That was until a tendril of whatever was coming out of the mirror attached itself to my cut up arm. Distracted I turned my attention to it and was immediately hit with a Knockback jinx. My back was then stuck with tendrils of the mirror coming out and wrapping itself around my torso and hips. I started to pull at the tendrils; it was like trying to take hold of smoke, or water. I struggled with the mirror in a panic then, knowing that Bellatrix wasn't going to wait forever. I could hear her cackling even now, the mouse caught by a viper that was playing with its food. My wand and the hand that was holding it got stuck in the mirror next. I could get stuck in it, but getting out was another thing all together.

Bellatrix laughed at my plight and raised her wand. She was about to cast what would surely be the Killing Curse when she suddenly paused. Someone had called out, we both heard a voice from the other side of the mirror. Having no context for where that was as the mirror was against the wall, I chose to assume that this mirror was something like the vanishing cabinet from my sixth year that Draco Malfoy had used to bring Death Eaters into the school the last time from a shop in Knockturn Alley. This scared me more than the dark witch in front of me that would no doubt decide she had toyed with me enough and would kill me; for the simple fact that I had no idea where the mirror would let out, or if it was even safe on the other side of it. If I had known I probably would have dived into it.

"Bellatrix," the smooth voice of my headmaster started, "you have been summoned."

Professor Snape then paused as he saw just how stuck and screwed I was. For a moment he looked a strange mix of incredibly tired and relieved. I starred in his eyes hoping to communicate something useful to him, and also to plead for his help. I could feel something strange in my mind and immediately remembered the younger students and tried to as him if they were still safe. His head twitched almost too quickly for me to catch. I would have to assume he was nodding. The sounds coming from the other side of the mirror were getting louder, probably closer to the place my corpse would be shot out of when Bellatrix killed me.

Bellatrix pouted for a moment, before raising her wand once more. Professor Snape put a hand on her wand arm, pulling it away from pointing at my face; which at that point was one of the few things still exposed from the mirror pulling me in.

"You have been summoned," Professor Snape repeated coldly, "best not to keep our Lord waiting..."

Bellatrix glared at Professor Snape and me before turning on her heel and flouncing away. We waited until we could no longer hear the sound of the Dark Witch in the hall, the younger students clearly forgotten in the want to impress the Dark Lord. That left my professor in the doorway looking at me sadly.

Couldn't he get me out of this?

"Professor," I started in a whimper, "please... Don't leave me here."

"Miss Brisker," he responded looking at the mirror and not me, "there is nothing that can get you out of that mirror. Are the younger students somewhere safe?"

"Yes," I answered, "how can I get out?"

"You don't," he said raising his wand at me, "but I can't leave you on this side for the next Death Eater to kill, any spells protecting the children would fail the second you were dead and they would be like lambs to the slaughter."

"Professor," I whimpered.

"I'm sorry," with that, Professor Snape cast a Knockback Jinx that sent me below the surface of the mirror.

For a moment, I was completely stunned. The next moment it felt as though I was drowning. The room that had been in front of me was gone. In its place was a rushing current of freezing cold water. I was carried away from where I had been quickly. I held my wand and pointed it at my face and tried to cast a bubble-head charm. A small bubble formed and I breathed in deeply. I then slowly exhaled and followed the bubbles to the surface.

My charm broke the second I surfaced from the water; I sputtered and struggled momentarily with the water. My uniform and bag were weighing me down, but I could see a bridge ahead. Swimming with the current, but towards the nearest bank I managed to finagle my way onto the grassy bank. Once my momentum stopped and I was mostly out of the river, I panted to catch up on my much-needed air and energy. Once I had rested for a bit, I dragged myself out of the river. Once out of the muck, I cast a quick cleaning spell and drying spell. It was then that my damaged arm made itself known once more. I put my wand into its holster and grabbed the worst of it with my other hand. I would have to seek medical attention soon.

I looked in the direction I had come from, I couldn't see if there was a second mirror anywhere near. Besides, it hadn't felt like I had been carried too far down river. That being said, with no sight on it and sight on a bridge, I had a choice to make. I chose the hopefully less likely to get me killed choice, and walked towards the bridge. On the way there, I contemplated what had just happened. With any luck I was close to the school, if not the school then still in the United Kingdom. I was having the hardest time believing that my professor would just send me flying into the unknown, but, those were the chips. I wasn't sure when, but I started to cry. I had no idea how the battle was going, but I could only hope that the younger students and Ernie would be alright.

The pain in my arm was getting worse and I was leaving a thin trail of crimson behind me. Hopefully, I wasn't in the Forbidden Forest though, if I was I had no idea where. I made it to the bridge and sat down to take a momentary rest. I leaned against one of the posts, and tried to collect a basic inventory. I was alone, I had my school supplies in my bag. Hermione had taught me last year how to extend my school bag, so I carried everything with me, plus an extra uniform for potions class. Having potions with students like Neville for seven years had trained me to always be prepared to need to change. What I did not have, was food and medical supplies. I did have a little bit of bruise paste, but there were very big warnings on it to not use on an open wound. At the very least, the wound wasn't deep, but my uniform would probably be stained forever.

My head shot up at the distant sound of bells. I wasn't sure where the sound was coming from, slowly I pulled my wand out. When nothing came out after a little while and the sound of bells faded away I relaxed. I suspiciously put my wand back away but readied myself to cast a wandless repelling charm. When nothing happened for a few minutes I cast a shielding charm around both myself and the bridge. Instantly I knew that had been a mistake. Between the wards I had been casting in my school and now the shield that I cast I felt that I had stretched myself too thin.

It was then that I noticed him. There was a tall man up in a tree not too far from where I was sitting. Green and brown scaled armor had kept him completely camouflaged. In fact, I was more than positive that had he not wanted me to see him, I never would have. As it was I was fighting the need to rest to refill my magical core. My spells would last, but I couldn't cast much else unless I rested. The man jumped out of the tree and slowly came towards me. I clutched my useless arm, and gave him a pleading look.

It was then that my reserves ran out. My vision swam momentarily, and then, there was nothing more.

* * *

This chapter is much longer than the first.

To all the people that Favorited, Saved, and put the story on your Watchlist... THANK YOU

To KioshiUshima and the Guest that reviewed... THANK YOU TOO! Actually, if anyone would like to make suggestions for things like possible parings, or if you want to ask where this is going please feel free to do so in the reviews or send me a PM.

If you would like as well, you can send me any criticism, try to be constructive though. I am currently attending college so I will try to be at least a little more frequent with this, but please keep in mind that my course is a condensed two year diploma so if I go AWOL it's probably due to school.

At any rate, hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to see more people reviewing and enjoying in the next!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three  
A Strange Encounter

It was the sound of wood being dropped onto a fire that woke me. I was lying on some kind of bedroll with my cloak rolled up under my head. I could smell the telltale smell of a campfire and something roasting away. Living next to the kitchens for seven years had given me a keen sense of smell for something cooking. That, and I honestly couldn't remember the last time I ate something. The day before yesterday perhaps. It was night now, a large full moon was shining down with more stars than I had ever seen in my life, even in Astronomy.

Slowly, so as not to draw attention to myself I tried to take stock of myself. My bag had been removed, as had my cloak. My wand was still strapped to my wrist holster on my left arm. I was warm at the very least so that was a step in the right direction. I was also covered in a large green cloak that completely dwarfed my smaller frame. My injured right arm was another story. It felt stiff and cold, it was on top of the cloak that was covering me. I slowly turned my head to it. The sleeves of both my school sweater and the white shirt I wore beneath had been cut away. It looked like for the most part, the bleeding had stopped. Where the blood had not stopped flowing it was at least a slow oozing now. The cursed cuts on my arm were wrapped in cloth and something that smelled medicinal, kind of like dittany, and stung also like dittany.

"It's Athelas," a deep voice called out from the other side of the fire.

I looked towards the source of the voice; it was the man I had seen before passing out. He was leaning on the trunk of a tree starring at me. I wondered momentarily how long he had been starring and if he had known I had woken up the moment I did. He had an amused expression on his face, I had a feeling that this was not one that he wore often, so something must have amused him about me. Without the cloak, I took in that he was slim but still muscular. Sky blue eyes were shining with mirth as I continued to peruse in curiosity. I also noted that he had much longer than average hair for a man. Slightly waved and golden hair moved in the subtle breeze. In short; he was a very beautiful man.

I tried for a moment to feel all the wards I had cast in the school. They were all still in place from what I could feel. The house elves wouldn't let them all starve, and if the school was no longer under attack, the teachers would be able to break my wards. I then tried to feel my magical core, it was slowly refilling, the curse on my arm and the protective wards were using the little that was there, but it was refilling. I would probably have to rest longer or have a large meal to refill it while it was still being used. I held eye contact with the man across the fire from me and tried to assess the situation. He had helped me, so he couldn't be all bad. I decided that if he had wanted to hurt me or was working with the Death Eaters, he would have just killed me outright rather than patch me up and try to take care of me. That being the general consensus of my mind, I took a deep breath and spoke.

"I'm Etoile," I started, volunteering the safest information I could think of, "who are you?"

He smiled, looking even more amused for a moment before saying, "I am Glorfindel, and that is Asfaloth."

It was then that I heard the sound of bells shifting and I glanced over towards the river where a beautiful white horse had been grazing. Hearing his master's voice the horse walked over to him. Clearly, the horse had chosen the man as either his only true rider, or had chosen to be the man's familiar. It registered that I had no idea if this man was a muggle or not, it worried me a bit, but so long as I didn't use magic on him it should be fine.

I slowly sat up shifting Glorfindel's cloak with me. Despite the fire, it was a chilly night and a fog was gathering on the river, by day this area would be covered in a dense mist. I flexed the fingers on my cursed arm. Everything was working, if not in a state of pain. The curse should be able to fade out on its own, but I focused a larger portion of what magic I had in reserve to the limb. Sadly, it would probably scar. I blinked, and looked at Glorfindel realizing I had zoned out and that he was asking me questions.

"I'm sorry," I replied, "I zoned out for a bit there could you repeat that please?"

He looked perplexed for a moment, but moved on anyways, "Yes, I asked you where you came from? Bree? Dale, Rohan or perhaps Gondor?"

I looked at Glorfindel confused, "I came from upriver-" I stopped myself not sure what I could say to this person, and I realized I had never heard of any of the places he had listed.

"Upriver is the Ettenmoors, and the old realm of Agmar though the river diverges at the Ettenmoors towards the Misty Mountains," Glorfindel responded losing the amused expression, "there are no human settlements there, or upriver from here."

 _'_ _Human?'_ I asked myself, ' _I hope that doesn't mean there are werewolves or vampires here...'_

Though I had had a werewolf as a teacher in my third year, I didn't want to meet one that was not my previous professor. Vampires, were a magical species that I avoided like the plague. I had a rare blood type, and I was a virgin. The perfect mix according to the one vampire I had met in sixth year had informed me. Luckily, Professor Slughorn had been keeping him well supplied for the party that evening. Those were the closest settlements I could think of that had people that weren't human but _looked_ human. I decided to go on faith that this was defiantly not the right place for me, but cautiously.

Timidly I asked, "Do you believe in magic?"

He laughed, it was a baritone and lovely sound, "of course I believe in magic, child. Else, how would I be here with the Maiar as their emissary?"

I had no idea what a Maiar was, but it must be this place's word for witch or wizard.

"Okay," I responded nodding, "well, I was sent here because of a magical accident with an artifact in my school."

"Where is this school?" Glorfindel asked politely.

"As I'm not the secret keeper, I can't give you an exact location, but it's about an hour's walk from Hogsmead," I answered honestly, "Hogsmead is in Scotland."

Once more, it was Glorfindel's turn to look puzzled. For a moment we sat there in silence, before he seemed to get all the gears turning in his head once more. Once he had done that he started fiddling around with something on his horse's saddlebag. I got a gut feeling that I did not want him taking anything out, or off, of his bags. Even if he wasn't a dark wizard – which I couldn't see him being despite not knowing him – it was not safe. I hurried to think of an explanation, that would be acceptable.

"I ended up in the river because I fell through a magical object where I am from. I don't fully understand what happened yet, but that is what I know," I said quickly, getting ready in case I had to cast a stunner.

"How did you end up in that situation?" he asked and paused with his fiddling.

"That I can answer, but it's a long story if you have the time?" I responded smiling.

When he gave a nod for me to go ahead and explain myself I did just that. I started with the previous couple of days and wrapped it up with where we were now. For all intents and purposes, I was as honest with him as I could be. I didn't have all the answers, but the ones I did have I could extrapolate on when he interjected with questions of his own. At some point during my explanation, whatever he had been cooking was finished. I was sitting happily enjoying some stew, my hunger and thirst quenched, I could feel my magical core refilling quickly once more.

"So," Glorfindel started after a long pause of him thinking, "To get everything sorted: you're a seventh year student at your school, there is a war between magic going on and you were charged with putting the students that could not defend themselves in a safe place during an attack on the school, you managed to get the children to a safe location, but, had to abandon it to draw an attacker away and that is how you ended up in the river? If it wasn't for your strange mannerisms, clothing, and name, I'm not sure that I would be able to believe you. These are dark times."

I nodded, "That's fair, I mean... I'm not quite sure I believe that I might not be on the same planet anymore, but look at the stars, and hand me my school bag I'll show you my Astronomy book."

He handed me my bag, I dug around in it pulling out a few of the wrong books, before I was able to locate my Advanced Astronomy text. I scanned through it rather quickly before stopping in the centerfold that had a map of the relative universe. Handing it to Glorfindel, I pointed out the different planets in the solar system that I was familiar with and some of the constellations that I knew by heart. I then pointed to the night sky, and explained the differences that I was noticing. For his part, he didn't look like he fully understood, but he was a very good listener.

While Glorfindel was scanning through the textbook, I started to go through my bag. My potions knife was still in there and so were my textbooks and the books from the Restricted Section that I had lifted from the library. I had been able to lift more than twenty books, all pertaining to rather dark spells, potions, and curses. I had been instructed by Professors Sprout and McGonagall to find and hide a large list of texts at the beginning of the year. Seeing as how the Room of Requirement was something that the Death Eaters running my school had known about, I had decided that the safest place for these texts to not be used to hurt students was on my own person. I hadn't been able to nail down all of the books that had been on their list, but neither had the Carrows. That left Mrs. Pince or even possibly other teachers to have hidden the books. I made an elective decision that Glorfindel did not have to know about the twenty books I had that were not part of the school's curriculum.

"I think," Glorfindel said after a long pause that made me stop going through my bag, "that this is a lot of information to go through. I think that I should for now abandon my task, though it pains me to do so, in order to escort you to my Lord Elrond."

"None of my business," I started curiously, "but what is the task that you're supposed to be doing? I might be able to help, rather than be a hindrance to getting a job done."

After staring at me for a moment Glorfindel spoke, "sadly this is not something that can be spoken of out here in the wilds of the world. Rest now, little Etoile I shall keep watch for the remainder of the night."

With that he stood, and led Asfaloth to a place to bed down for the evening and then he crossed the bridge, and out of my sight. I looked at Asfaloth and smiled.

"He's a man of few words, eh?" I asked.

Asfaloth responded with a wicker then a snort. I huddled closer to the cloak that had been given to me, and tried to think of something to do that wouldn't be disturbing while I waited either for Glorfindel to return or for dawn to arrive. I pulled out my wand and started casting Orchideous in the general direction of Asfaloth's mane. Small yellow flowers started braiding themselves through the horse's main. I stopped the flow of magic when I was satisfied with the development.

Bored with general tomfoolery with magic, I opened my Ancient Studies text and started studying. I had been taking the elective since sixth year. It was my dream to become a Curse-Breaker for Gringotts. The hope there would be that I would be placed in Egypt where I could fiddle about in ancient tombs. As a child, and a half-blood, my parents had raised me as a Muggle. The younger me had been fascinated with Egypt and archeology, so in fifth year when Professor Sprout was reviewing my grades and what I wanted to do in the future, we planned my schedule around the dream.

Ancient Studies was both an extension of History of Magic, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, and Charms. As such all three teachers had to teach me in different classes. As I was one of the very few these ended up being mostly one-on-one classes. I had gotten all the necessary grades to continue, though my Potions, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts went down a little bit I had still passed with mostly Exceeds Expectations, and Outstandings on the other courses. I ended up having to drop the electives Care of Magical Creatures and Divination though. I had never really had the head for them anyway so it hadn't hurt too bad. Besides, NEWTs were coming up, if I studied now, maybe it would still be seventh year when I get back to my school.

Glorfindel dropped down in front of me from a tree surprising me. I looked up at him from my perch on the ground. I almost felt like a second year caught outside of my common room after hours. Which honestly had happened on more than one occasion that year from sleepwalking. Considering what had been attacking students that year I still considered myself more than lucky that I had never met with a sticky end that year.

"I thought I told you to rest," Glorfindel stated.

I blushed a little bit, "I couldn't sleep so I decided to study."

He blinked down to my textbook, "I see. If you would prefer, we can be off sooner than later?"

"Sure," I said, "If you want, I'll put the fire out. I can hide it too if you want?"

When he nodded I proceeded to put out the campfire and magically remove the traces of it. I then gathered up my belongings that had been strewn haphazardly around both where I had been passed out, and by Asfaloth. My arm was giving me signals of pain again, so I looked down to it. My movements must have reopened some of the wounds. At least I could still feel it though.

"Lord Elrond is a masterful healer," Glorfindel stated when he noticed me looking over my bandaged limb, "no doubt he will want to help you with your injuries."

He had been busy saddling Asfaloth up. The horse was standing proudly beside his master, who was looking at the yellow flowers in thought.

"Sorry," I said, "I was bored, and _Orchideous_ doesn't take much magic to cast."

"Why this colour?" he asked quietly.

"Well, for one yellow is my favourite colour," I said ticking off the answer, "for two, yellow is the colour of my house at Hogwarts."

"House?"

"Yea," I started, "Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and then my house, Hufflepuff. Each student is sorted into a house in first year. Supposedly, Gryffindors are brave, Slytherins cunning, Ravenclaws smart, and Hufflepuffs kind… Or exceptionally good finders, take your pick. Each house is named after one of the founders, and the qualities of the students sorted is supposed to reflect the things that particular founder thought was the best."

Glorfindel pulled a small green stone out of one of Asfaloth's saddle bags and walked towards me. He held it out to me, so I took it. I looked at it, confused. It was a chunk of green beryl, or heliodor. Beryl was sometimes a rarely used potions ingredient, when you crushed it into a powder. In Divination, Heliodor had a lot of different meanings from telling someone to let go of unnecessary or unwanted emotional baggage; to give someone courage and confidence to figure out the next steps in their journey, unlocking their own potential. I had a thought back to Glorfindel's task that he was abandoning to escort me who knows where.

"You're looking for something or someone," I said looking at the gemstone.

For a second Glorfindel looked stunned. But I could see I was on the right track. I quickly brought out my wand and cast onto the gemstone without thinking.

" _Protego Horribilis_ ," I then handed Glorfindel the gemstone, "I would put that on the other side of the bridge for whomever you are trying to find. Don't worry though, with that charm it shouldn't be picked up by anything with evil intentions, you did say these are dark times."

Quickly, Glorfindel took the gemstone across the large bridge and dropped it into the dirt at the foot of it before coming back to me.

"Have you ever ridden a horse before?" he asked, looking at me quizzically.

"Uh," I blinked, "No, I haven't."

Glorfindel sighed for a moment before mounting Asfaloth. Once he was saddled, he reached down for me. I gave him my hands and slowly he pulled me up in front of him. I tried to remember the girls in my school before Hogwarts. A few of them talked about riding ponies and how to sit and ride with anyone that would listen. I was still wearing Glorfindel's cloak – mine was put into my bag for cleaning in the near future – so at least we weren't touching. It wasn't that I didn't like guys, I just had more to focus on, like my schooling. Besides, the middle of war was not the time or place to form attachments. Awkwardly, I handed my bag to Glorfindel who attached it to Asfaloth's saddle.

"Relax," he said quietly in my ear, "I will not let you fall, and Asfaloth would never allow any rider to fall from his back."

I nodded, blushing, and tried to relax.

After a moment I asked, "how far away is Lord Elrond?"

"We are going to Rivendell, the Last Homely House, "Glorfindel answered, "we are a hundred miles east of the Hidden Valley, but if we ride swiftly, we should be able to get there within two days' time."

I nodded, and held onto Asfaloth's mane when Glorfindel called to his mount, " _Noro lim_ , Asfaloth!"

I had no idea what he had said but it put a proverbial fire under Asfaloth's hooves. The stallion took off like a shot. Which only pushed me suddenly back into the saddle against Glorfindel, who snaked an arm around my waist to keep me from falling. And with that we rode off into the night, the sound of bells following us in a musical trail.

* * *

It's been both a BUSY and PEACEFUL last week in college. A fair note: I am Canadian and for the most part, I am trying to use the Canadian/British spelling of words (It's a -3 grade dock in my classes, so I am forcing myself to try not spelling the Americanized way... Sorry for any confusion!)

A quick note: I want to make this as close to two lotr cannons as possible the Book and the Peter Jackson movie. Mostly the movie. I never however thought that it was fair that in every adaptation of the book that Glorfindel is a character that gets replaced (By Legolas in the Ralph Bakshi version and Arwen in the Peter Jackson version respectively.) Without dating myself for knowing about the Ralph Bakshi version (Which came out in 1978, I first watched it in 2000 in a small part and then to completion in 2010 on YouTube) that version scared the daylights out of me as a child so I've avoided Legolas going to pick up Forod and Company (haha just thought of a logo slogan "Frodo and Co. For all your Second Breakfast Needs") I have an equally ANCIENT copy of _The Lord of the Rings_ so I intend to access it when I need to cross reference facts (This copy is so old the cover says it was $1.95 and the "Authorized Canadian Edition of the Famous Heroic Tale") and I intend to use it. As far as Harry Potter, I am using Pottermore and the internet in general to cross-reference my facts and spells. I also have access to a large poster map of Middle Earth, if you look for where I am talking about it is the Last Bridge... In the Hobbit, an arch was broken which ended up killing a horse when it fell into the river, some two between the two Elrond had it repaired.

If you have read the books the chapter Flight to the Ford was when an injured Frodo and Co. come across a green stone and camp at in the Trollshaws, which is where they meet Glorfindel (Origionally) or Legolas/Arwen in the other adaptations.

That being said, this is a crossover... How much will cross over to Harry Potter I'm not sure to be honest... My original rendition of this currently has Etoile (Our Main Character) pretty stuck.

Other than that, how did you all like this chapter? And what do you think of Etoile's name? I had a hard choice between Alice, Etoile, Crystal, and Nora. In the end I left it to an internet choice-maker and it picked Etoile. I like to think the character really likes the name in a kind of silly way. It feels right.

Thank you once more people that reviewed, Favorited, or followed. It means a lot to see those emails coming into my inbox between this busy time!

Have wonderful days everyone!

p.s. "Noro lim" means "Ride on".


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four  
Rivendell

To say it had been a long two days would be an understatement. It had been awkward, and borderline terrifying at a few points. The rain had started half way through the first day and it hadn't let up. Asfaloth was doing his best to keep us on the path, and Glorfindel was doing his best to keep me from falling for the most part. We had stopped for a few hours to stretch our legs and have something to eat while resting Asfaloth when the rain had made the path exceedingly difficult to traverse on horseback. So, we were walking. For the most part, I was able to keep us mostly dry. I poked around at the wards from my school to find that I could no longer feel them. I halted in my path, which in turn made Glorfindel stop to look back at me.

"I can't feel my wards anymore," I said, clasping my bag in front of me.

"What does that mean?" he asked coming to me.

"Either we won, and a teacher broke them," I responded, "or we lost, and someone else broke them without me noticing."

"What could have broken them?" Glorfindel asked.

"Well," I started, "Professor Filtwick is a Dueling Champion and the Charms Master, he could easily break any student's wards. Other than him, I don't know, an explosion definitely. If a Death Eater wanted in there badly enough, a ward wouldn't hold back anything past the initial blast."

Glorfindel rested a hand on my shoulder, "Then, we will have to believe that it was this professor, and that those children are safe. We are nearly to Rivendell, don't lose heart now Mithrandir is a powerful wizard, I'm sure he will be able to give you aid once your injuries have been looked over."

I looked into Glorfindel's eyes they were sincere, and carried a worried expression. I was strangely comforted by the pressure of his hand on my shoulder. I looked away and nodded quietly. The two of us continued walking on in silence. There was not much I could do unless I made it back to my school. I had to hope that Ernie had tunneled them out if we had lost, and that they were all safe in the school if we had won. With a stretch of luck, Professor Filtwick would know that I had been the one that cast all those wards, and the other teachers would know that I was still out there somewhere, magically missing, but alive.

It wasn't more than three hours later that we came to the true entrance of the valley. Even in the pouring rain, it was a beautiful sight to behold. I ran until I was ahead of Asfaloth, who whickered when I passed him and stopped at the edge of a cliff. Down in the center of the valley was a large settlement of well-crafted buildings. There were waterfalls, and bridges connecting everything despite the water everywhere.

"The main house there," Glorfindel's voice came from beside me making me jump, "that is where we are going." He said with a smile pointing the building out.

"Wanna get there quickly?" I asked, thinking of something quickly.

Glorfindel gave me an amused look, "that is what we have been trying to do."

"No," I smiled, "Like, instantly? I can apparate there now that I can visualize where we are going… I can't take Asfaloth though, I don't know how to do that."

"You can do that?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, deciding not to tell him that I was unlicensed as of the moment.

"Very well," Glorfindel said, "Asfaloth, return to your stall I will attend to you when you get there."

Asfaloth took off quickly, but happily. I put myself closer to Glorfindel and held onto his arm.

"You might want to close your eyes," I stated, "it always makes my stomach turn when I don't."

I waited for him to close his eyes before I took another look at where we were headed and took a deep breath. I then quickly turned and willed myself and Glorfindel to our destination. With a loud resounding crack, we went from the cliffside, across the valley. When I opened my eyes, I took a careful stock of everything. I luckily hadn't left anything behind, but I wasn't in the spot I had been hoping. Glorfindel was on the other side of the tree laughing.

"How did this happen?" he asked laughing at me.

"I don't know!" I shouted embarrassed, "I must have been concentrating on this tree instead of the ground!"

"Better in a tree then," Glorfindel said looking down, still laughing, "than in the waterfall."

With that he jumped down and out of the tree. I was not as able, I hated heights. I slowly tried to get myself down the tree. I missed my footing on the branch beneath myself and fell. Glorfindel's reflexes were quick, he caught me before I was able to get really hurt from tumbling out of the tree. I clung to him, frightened from the fall.

"S-sorry," I said as he put me down.

I straightened up my soaked uniform. It was clinging to my frame, once we were inside, and there wasn't a chance of getting resoaked, I would use magic to dry us off. Two other men walked up to the two of us. They were both armed to the teeth, and it was like looking at the Weasley Twins, they were so similar that there was no mistaking that they weren't twins themselves. I hid myself behind Glorfindel's bulk and looked at the two of them from behind him.

"Laurefindil," one of the twins started, "were you able to find Estel?"

"And what do you have here?" the other said leaning over to try to see me from behind Glorfindel.

"I was not able to find Estel," Glorfindel answered, "I was waylaid by my young new friend Etoile."

With that, he grabbed my shoulder and brought me out of my hiding place.

"Etoile," he smiled, "These are the sons of Lord Elrond: Elladan and Elrohir."

"Uhm," I stalled blushing, "Hello…"

The two of them bowed to me, unsure of the protocol I bowed back as if preparing for a civil duel. All three men gave me amused looks. I turned my head to look back at Glorfindel, confused by everything that was going on.

"Laurefindil," the one that was called Elrohir started, "there's been a development…"

"…Arwen's run off to try and find Estel herself, we were hoping you had crossed paths with her," the one named Elladan finished.

They were very similar to Fred and George, I realized. I only hoped they were not as partial to pranks as my home's counterparts. Both had their differences though, they were both tall, with long dark hair. Elladan was slightly thinner than his brother Elrohir, but both were well built. Clearly there must be something in these people's food or water supply, because they were both also flawlessly beautiful. What they had said was concerning though, a lady was out in the wilds looking for the person Glorfindel had had to abandon looking for in order to bring me here. I looked at Glorfindel, who looked like he was contemplating what he should do. The twins were looking to him for answers that I wasn't sure he had. I hoped at that moment, that whomever this Arwen was, she had found Estel and that both were safely on their way here.

"The river leading out of the valley is flooding. It would be unsafe for anyone to go looking for Arwen at this juncture," Glorfindel said after a long pause, "worry not, our borders have been safe as of late."

With that, he took my uninjured hand and started leading me towards the large building ahead of us. The twins followed us close to our heels. They must be agreeing with Glorfindel, or planning to search on their own once the rain had stopped pouring. As it currently was, the four of us were getting even more soaked if it was even possible by that point. When we entered the house, I dragged my heels in, stopping us from going forward.

"Let me get us dry," I said pulling out my wand.

I quickly cast a drying charm on the four of us. It felt like standing in the path of a hairdryer, but at least we were all warm and dry again.

"What do we have here?" a voice called out from down the hall.

I looked, there was a tall man that looked like a slightly older version of the twins that were behind me stunned and starring at my wand. Beside him was an old man that reminded me of Professor Dumbledor, he had been the one that had spoken. I thought for a moment, he was also familiar to one of the previous headmasters from Hogwarts. I hadn't been in the Headmaster's office much. The incident in my sixth year aside, I had never really gone into Dumbledor's study before then. That would have made him one of the Headmasters himself, but that was an impossibility I was sure. I tried to remember the name that had been on the plaque Stormcrow or something I thought. I decided I may as well give it a shot.

"H-headmaster Stormcrow?" I asked curiously.

"Headmaster?" he responded, "that is a title I have not heard in a very long time, miss?"

"Brisker," I responded, "Etoile Brisker."

"Found a mirror, in an old room, did you? And decided to poke about it?" he asked smiling, "Hufflepuffs, your curiosity truly knows no boundaries."

"Are you actually Professor Stormcrow?" I asked shocked, "how are you still alive?"

"You will find that time moves quite differently here my dear," Stormcrow responded.

"Gandalf," the other man said, "you two know each other?"

"Oh, not at all Elrond," Gandalf responded chuckling, "but she does require your aid, that looks to be a nasty curse," he finished gesturing to my cursed arm.

So, this was Lord Elrond. He quickly gathered my arm into his hands and unwrapped Glorfindel's careful bandaging. With that, Elrond and Gandalf whisked me away from the other three, leaving them in the proverbial dust. The next few minutes were a blur for me. Gandalf, who instead of a wand used a staff that was taller than he was, was muttering counter-curses and Elrond busied himself with patching my arm back up.

"Lord Glorfindel was able to do most of the healing," Elrond stated after a while, "I am just replacing his bandages. You're very lucky you didn't get an infection."

I didn't respond, I was too focused on the elderly wizard, and the man in front of me. Elrond, had very strange looking ears. They were pointed. He however, didn't look like a vampire, his skin wasn't pale enough and he wasn't giving me that skin-crawling feeling that the last vampire I had met had given me.

Subtlety was sadly not one of my gifts when I blurted out, "what's wrong with your ears?"

For his part, Elrond seemed to take my question in stride, "There is nothing wrong with my ears, I am an elf, as are my sons, daughter and Glorfindel… Did you not notice?"

"No," I responded honestly, "Sorry by the way…"

I was taking the fact that I had travelled with an elf in stride, I hope I hadn't upset him by thinking he was a man the whole journey here. Hopefully elves couldn't read thoughts, I heard Gandalf mutter something that sounded suspiciously like ' _Hufflepuffs_ ', so I looked at him. For his part, he hadn't changed much from his portrait in Dumbledor's office. I had not gone into the office since Professor Snape became Headmaster, so I was unsure if his portrait was still there or if it had been moved.

"Professor Stormcrow," I started, "can you explain this place to me?"

"Just call me Gandalf dear, I haven't been Headmaster in nigh almost a millennium if I am remembering the time right," he corrected, "as to your situation. How did you come to be here with such a dark curse attached to you?"

 _'_ _Millennium?'_ I asked myself, _'How is he still alive?'_

"A dark witch named Bellatrix Lestrange, sir," I responded, still wanting to be polite, "I'm a seventh year prefect."

"And what is going on at Hogwarts?" he asked.

"War," I answered, "the school was under attack, and Professors McGonagall and Sprout my Head of House told me to bring the younger students to a safe place."

Both the people in the room shared a look.

"Tell us everything child," Elrond finally requested after a moment, "don't leave any details out."

I nodded, and explained the last year at Hogwarts to the two of them. I had a strange feeling that this would not be the last time I would be asked to do this. I ended my explanation with meeting the two of them, going over the last two days of travelling with Glorfindel. I also told them my fears for the younger students, now that I could no longer feel the wards doing their job. They both looked sympathetic. Out of the two of them, Gandalf looked like he whole heartedly believed me, Elrond was a little more grounded. Suddenly, Elrond stood and wandered to the door to the room they had initially lead me to. He opened the door and his two sons fell through the open portal, Glorfindel stood behind the two of them looking very amused with the situation and the fact that the twins had been caught red-handed. Gandalf looked at me before winking. I shot him a confused look but kept quiet, wanting to see where this would develop.

Glorfindel, stepped over the twins to sit at my side, "how is your arm?"

"Elrond said you did most of the fixing, but it's not infected thanks to you," I responded, holding out the freshly bandaged limb.

"At this point though Etoile," Gandalf started looking very grave, "I must inform you that there is currently no power in this world that could send you back through that mirror. In fact, I'm not sure the thing exists on this side of it."

"How is that possible?" I asked worried.

"Because the trade has been accepted," Gandalf explained, "long ago there were five wizards sent to this world to help it. At one point the Blue wizards of our order disappeared. They had found a way to get to another place entirely. One where time works very differently than here. I had gone with them, and became Headmaster of the school where the mirror let out. Eventually, I came back, the Blue wizards stayed on that side, and now," he paused and sighed, "and now my dear you are here. The trade is equal, now where before it had been unbalanced."

The sting of tears wet my eyes, "What do you mean?"

Glorfindel put an arm around my shoulders and glared at Gandalf, "Mithrandir, she does not need to know this."

"Yes, I do," I responded waspishly, "I'm seventeen and an adult in the wizarding world. I think I have a right to know what Bellatrix and Professor Snape have done to me."

Everyone in the room was either starring at myself or Gandalf. After a long moment thinking, Gandalf spoke.

"There is no way for you to go back through the mirror to Hogwarts," he finally said sadly.

 _'_ _Don't cry Etoile,'_ I tried to order myself fruitlessly.

With tears spilling down my face I responded, "at least you're honest."

"There is no point in lying to you. The sooner you know the truth the sooner you can move on with it," he responded, nodding.

With that, Gandalf ushered Elrond and his sons out of the room. Leaving me with a pitying parting glance, the door shut. I was alone with my tears and Glorfindel. For his part, Glorfindel allowed me to cry on his shoulder, holding me tightly. Together we stayed that way long past the point where I had stopped crying and had fallen asleep.

* * *

Consider yourselves spoiled, I had no homework this weekend. With that I am truly off to study for some tests... hahahaha no, I'm going to work on chapter five and play Battle for Middle Earth II or more Fallout 4... ' _Bongo Bongo Bongo I don't wanna leave the Congo Oh no no no no no~ Bingo Bango Bongo I'm so happy in the jungle I refuse to go~'_ Civilization by The Andrews Sisters has been stuck in my brain for a month.

A side note, there actually is a portrait of Gandalf in Hogwarts. It appears in Dumbeldor's office in the movie Chamber of Secrets. I decided that the two Blue wizards and Gandalf had once journeyed there and taught students for a time (The Blue wizards were said to have journeyed off to either the far East of Arada and started a cult trying to hunt the darkness and failed their mission given to them by Eru. Glorfindel was also originally considered to be a wizard, but instead he was moved down to their emissary, a thousand years after the fall of Gondolin.) The Blue wizards stayed but Gandalf went back to finish (And let's face it, he's the ONLY one that does his job as a wizard there) the task that had been given to him. It has been decided that this is an equivalent exchange of two wizards for a wizard (Gandalf) and our main character. It made sense in my mind when I wrote it so shall it be here hahaha.

Thank you once more to everyone that Favorited, Subscribed, and Reviewed! Have a great weekend everyone and I hope to be getting another chapter out soon!


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